Serbian experts to assist Bosnian aviation authorities

Serbian experts to assist Bosnian aviation authorities

Serbian experts to assist BiH aviation authorities

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Representatives of the aviation authorities from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) signed in Belgrade on Thursday the protocol which envisages provision of assistance by experts from Serbia in the certification and pursuit of independence of the BiH Air Traffic Control which should assume control over its upper airspace in late 2015.

The protocol on cooperation in the process of certification of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Air Traffic Control was signed by Director of the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia Mirjana Cizmarov and Director General of the Civil Aviation Directorate of Bosnia-Herzegovina Djordje Ratkovica.

Ratkovica told Tanjug that Bosnia took over charge for provision of services in its lower airspace (at heights of up to 10,000 meters) on November 13, 2014, and it should take over control over its upper airspace, which is currently being controlled by Serbia and Croatia, late in 2015.

The Civil Aviation Directorate issued a temporary certificate to our service provider and we are currently in the stage of complete certification, Ratkovica said and added that in order to finalize the task, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Civil Aviation Directorate needs help of a certain number of experts from the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia.

He expressed the expectation that Bosnia-Herzegovina would complete the certification process by April or May 2015, and he also thanked the director of the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia for the assistance.

Cizmarov told Tanjug that the signed protocol is only one in the series of documents that testify of exceptional cooperation between aviation authorities of Serbia and Bosnia.

The document was signed within the framework of the regional conference of aviation authorities which began in Belgrade on Thursday. The meeting gathers representatives of ten countries.

The Flight Control Agency of Serbia and Montenegro is hosting a regional meeting of representatives of civil aviation authorities and national supervisory bodies from Bisnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Sweden. The meeting was organized by the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Republic of Serbia.

During the meeting, the officials underscored that cooperation needs to be further intensified and that only a joint approach of aviation authorities in the region can make room for easier access to EU funds and funding for projects in the aviation sector.